Udupi, Feb 26: Residents of Ambalpady area and nearby Kediyoor and Kadekar villages peoples blocked the highway on Friday February 26 for some time at Ambalpady Junction, demanding that an underpass should be built on National Highway 66 at the Ambalpady Junction .

Baskara said, "The widening (four

laning) of the national highway was going on in the city. But the Na...

Udupi, Feb 26: Residents of Ambalpady area and nearby Kediyoor and Kadekar villages peoples blocked the highway on Friday February 26 for some time at Ambalpady Junction, demanding that an underpass should be built on National Highway 66 at the Ambalpady Junction .

Baskara said, "The widening (four-laning) of the national highway was going on in the city. But the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had decided to construct only a foot over-bridge at Ambalpady Junction instead of the planned underpass. The original plan of the NHAI was to construct an underpass on NH 66 at Ambalpady Junction. This would have gone a long way in easing traffic congestion at the junction."

"Some of the rich people opposed the underpass and sought a foot over-bridge on the grounds that there would be rainwater clogging and stagnation, which was completely wrong. As a result, the NHAI had given up the construction of the underpass. A lot of people from Ambalpady, Kadekar and Kediyoor would be inconvenienced and there would be long traffic snarls. People going to Udupi from Ambalpady, Kadekar and Kediyoor would have to take the service road from Ambalpady Junction and go all the way to Karavali Junction," he added/

Protester said that they will give memorandum to Shobha Karandlaje, MP, who had assured them of looking into the matter.

NHAI officer Malikarujan said that he will stop the construction of road at present and will start after solving the problem.

Altaf Ahmed and Bhaskar Shetty, co-conveners of the forum, Shantharaj Aithal and Vishu Shetty, social workers, were present on the occasion.